Physiological and focal cerebellar substrates of abnormal postural sway and tremor in alcoholic women.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Posturography analysis of static balance reveals marked sway and tremor in sober alcoholic men related to anterior vermis volume but can be attenuated by simple visual or tactile cues or alterations in stance. Whether alcoholic women, whose ataxia can persist with prolonged sobriety, exhibit the same physiological signature of balance instability and relation to cerebellar vermian volume as alcoholic men or can benefit from stabilizing factors is unknown.

Methods

Groups comprised 15 alcohol-dependent women, alcohol-free (median 3 months) and 29 control women. Groups were matched in age, demographic features, and finger movement speed and underwent balance platform testing and magnetic resonance imaging scanning.

Results

Alcoholic women exhibited excessive s

SUBMITTER: Sullivan EV 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2794976 | biostudies-literature | 2010 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature